Method of and apparatus for adjusting locomotive reversing mechanism



B B. WHLNEH. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FDR ADJUSTING LOCOMOTIVE REVERSING MECHANISM;

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mrzvssa- I B. B. MILNER. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING LOG OIVIOTIVE REVERSING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB, 20, I919.

.fl mten'ted Man 222 1921.,

I 4 SHEETSSHEET 2 B. B. MILNEH. METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING LOCOMOTIVE REYERSING MECHANISM.

APPLZCATION FILED FEB. 20. 1919.

Patented Mar. 22, 1-921.

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. mus/Wren B. B. MILNER.

METHOD 0F AND APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING LOCOMOTIVQ REVERSING MECHANISM.

APPUCRTION FILED FEB 20, 1919.

Patented 1513.1 22,1921.

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,UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

BERT B. MILNER, DIE-NEW YORK, Y. J

METHOD or AND APPARATUS son angmsrme LOGOMO'IIVE nnvnnsnve MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented- Marli'22, 1921.

Application filedlebruary 20, 1919. Serial No. 278,249.

To aZZw/wmitvrmy co ncevm: j Be it known that I, 'Bnirr B. MILNER, a

citizenof the UnitedStates, residing at New of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methodsof and Ap-- paratus for Adjusting'Locomotive Reversing Mechanism, of which the following is a;

specification. g s i This invention relates. to an. improved method of and apparatus foradj'u'stlngthe reversing mechanism of steam locomotives, for the purpose of developlng tl eg iaximumf 'power or draw bar pull of: the-locomotive at different speeds. x i

In steam railroad operation, for example,

in starting trains inlocal passengerservlcet where many stops must be made and normialf' between them as promptly as possible inorder to be able't make schedule satisfactorily, it is of great practical importance that the maximum pos-,

sible draw bar pull be maintained through-1i out the period of acceleration. As locomojf running speeds obtained tives are being started from a. stop, it is necessary to employ a strong, steady pull, beginning at their lowest speeds and hence to set the locomotive. valve gear in such manner as to vallow the cylinders to take steam throughout all, or throughout most, of the piston stroke.

ranged to occur earlier and earlier in the stroke, and finally as early as practical or consistent with the, work to be done. Heretofore, it has been left entirely to the judg ment of the engineer, just when and how the "valve gear should be shifted during the 1 period of acceleration from start to the nor-"" 'mal running speeds and to the final running position of the valve gear, and in controlling this matter economy of operation or has been one of the.-

steam consumption dominating factors. I have found that if .economy of steam consumption be disre' garded, for each speed of the locomotive there is a particular point of cutoff which will give the highest draw bar pull and,

therefore, the highest rate of acceleration to.

. ticular stage of acceleration.

Afterward as, the trains approach the desired normal running speeds, it is required in order to prevent an! undue back pressure that the cutoff be ar-l,

The new be at (or atleast closely approximate) that I at which'is developed the maximum draw York, in the county of New York and State bar pull for the speed existing at each par- 1 accomplish the foregoing result by the locomotives progressive means of an apparatus illustrated in pregferred form in the accompanying drawings,

wherein 1: l igure 1 illustrates the application of my inventionto, the standard manually operated reversing meclianism of a locomotive; j Flg. 2 illustrates a n10dification thereof in wh chthe reversing mechanism is automatically shifted to the proper position to obtain the desired cut-off; Fig. 3 shows a modification of my'invention in which-the reverse {lever is automatically shifted. to obtain maximumdrawbar pull, but which leaves I the reverse leversubject also to manual control; l ig. a shows a longitudinal section of a cyl nder [employed in the apparatus of 1 154. 3; I g. is a similar view of a pres- "surepump forming part ofthis apparatus; and 1* ig. 6 shows the corresponding reverse lever arrangement.

Referring particularly to Fig. 1, it will be seen that 51 have'therein illustrated in diagrammatic form a portion of alocomotive [A equipped with a standard form of xivalve motion, such for example, as the wellknown \Valschaert gear B, the constructionl'aiid operation of which-are well. understood in the art. A reach rod 7 for operating the block 8 of the valve motionis connected in the usual manner to a reverse lever '9, associated, with the quadrant diagrammatically indicated at 10.

its operating shaftll is driven by any stand ard form of driving mechanism, such, for I example,,as the belt 12 driven from the axle 1 .13 of one ofthe wheels. The speed indicator dial is graduated for a reading of miles per hour, and the quadrant 10 is also correspond; ingly graduated in miles per hour; that is to say; the positions to which the reverse A speed indicator C is jmounted in the cab of the locomot ve and the greatest load.

available, the speed'can be determined from reverse lever in order to obtain the maximum draw bar pull at the respective speeds. The advantage of tlns is, of course, obvlous.

The positions to be marked on the quadrant 10 are those which, forthe corresponding speeds of the locomotive, will give the maximum draw bar pull. These can best be determined by practical trial; If a dynamometer car is available, it will suffice to run the locomotive at various cut-offs and at the various speeds for which the quadrant 10 is to be graduated, and note, for each speed, from dynamometer car results, the position of the reverse lever for which the draw bar pull is a maximum. If a dynamometer is not available, the calibration can be effected in the following manner:

Attach the locomotive to be calibrated to the front end of aitrainof some to cars, and run it with a previously selected and fixed cut-off at any desired speed, up a convenient grade, employing'another locomotive by which 'the desired speed is maintained, asa pusher at the rear end of the train. The-n note the position of the reverse lever for which the slack coupling between the pulled and the pushed sections of the train occurs farthest back in the train. This will be the position of maximum draw bar pull for thetest speed, since in this condition the locomotive being tested is pulling If no speed indicator be the. time required to traverse a measured and marked stretch of track. It is, of course, necessary that the 'rear locomotive maintain the selected speeds constant over this stretch of track.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 2,1

- have shown a means whereby the reverse lever is automatically shifted to the proper position, the valve motion B in this case being operated by a standard form of power reverse mechanism, such, for example, as the well-known Ragonnetpower reverse D, the operation of which is well understood.

In this embodiment of my invention the reverse lever 9 is operatively connected to an operating cylinder E by the rod l4. The

' valve 15, for controlling the admission of operating fluid to'the power cylinder E is controlled by a regulator F which has a flexible operating shaft 16 driven in the same manner and preferably by the same means as is the operating shaft 11 of the speed indicator C. It will be apparent that the valve 15 of the power cylinder E will be shifted to admit fluid in accordance with thedirection of running. In order to stop the power reverse lever 9 in the proper position, as it is actuated by the power cylinder E, I provide a second regulator G, also driven by a flexible shaft 17 driven from the belt 12. The regulator (l operates to shift the position of a stop 18 carried on the reach rod 7 to correspond to thc particular speed of the engine. The reach rod 7 is also provided with a fixed stop or abutment-l9.

The operation is as follows: Assuming that the reverse lever has been shifted to full forwar'dposition, in order to start the locomotive, as soon as the locomotive reaches successively higher and higher speeds, the regulator F will shift the valve mechanism 15 and admit fluid pressure to the operating cylinder E in such direction as to cut back the power reverse lever to predetermined posit-ions producing maximum possible draw bar pull corresponding to the speeds attained. During this operation the regulator G will shift the stop 18 to assume positions corresponding to the speeds attained, and the power cyhnder E will correspondingly shift the power reverse lever 9, as indicated, to points at which the abutment 19 comes into engagement with the stop 18. The reverse lever is. therefore, shifted to and held in the proper position to obtain a. cut-off in the cylinders adapted to produce the maximum draw bar pull at such speed. As the speed changes, so does the regulator G shift the position of the stop 18 and the power cylinder E shift the resame as hereinbefore described, but in the reverse manner. The advantage of this arrangement over the first described is that the operation is entirely automatic and the obtaining-of the development of maximum draw bar pull at all times cannot be defeated by the negligence of the engineer.

In the arrangement shown by Fig. 3, is illustrated a semi-automatic means of controlling the cut-oifs such as is necessary to obtain either maximum draw bar pulls at various speeds or draw bar pulls less than the maximum. In this arrangement, D is a power reverse gear of standard type. 9 is the reverse lewer controlling the reverse gear D. H is a fluid pressure pump driven from the driving axle of the locomotive discharging to one end of the control cylinder J. The control cylinder is connected to the lower end of a lever 20 mounted on the same pivot as the reverse level 9. The

' 23 in the control cylinder J causing it to be displaced toward the right. The displacement of the piston causes a corresponding displacement, toward the center, of the limiting stop21, on the lever 20. The amount of'movement desired to obtain the proper cut-off is regulated by by-passing the fluid through the pipe 24, the opening through which is controlled by a restricted orifice in the gasket of pipe union 25 It will thus be seen that in starting a train, in order to obtain maximum draw bar pull and, therefore, greatest possible acceleration, it neer to manually adjust the reverse lever as is now necessary, the proper adjustment of the lever being accomplished by the stop 21 on the lever 20, which pushes the reverse lever 9' backward as the speed of the locomotive increases.

For the purpose of allowing the leverlto be pushed backward by the automatic means, ll prefer to make the notches in the reverse lever quadrant V-shape'd so that the latch may be forced out of engagement when the lever is actuated by the automatic means.

In case the speed of the locomotive decreases (as when an adverse grade is encountered), it is only necessary, in order to obtain the development of maximum draw bar pull, for the engineer to return the lever to the stop of the automatic means.

d hen less than maximum draw bar pull is required, the reverse lever can be manu ally adjusted in any desired position to the rear of the adjustable stop.

it will, of course, be understood that my invention has greatest utility during the period of acceleration from starting to normal running speeds, under normal or average load conditions. Under other circumstances the variations in the load conditions may be such that the cut-off indications will not be precisely those at which maximum draw pull is developed. For example, a speed of twenty miles per hour on a level will require a different cut-oft adjustment to produce mairimum draw bar pull than the same speed-up grade. For these reasons,

I prefer the constructions of Figs. 1 and 3 for in either, the engineman may manually further manipulate the reverse lever to obtain the desired result, in which connection it is to be observed that in practically all cases where such additional adjustment is required, the cutoff should be shortened over the indicated adjustment.

however, during progressive l' tiiliigliildll tl,"

will \be unnecessary for the engithe locomotive ments afford an almost uniformly accu; rate indication of that cut-off which will produce maximum draw bar pull and therefore maximum efficiency and economy in train operation, even though, temporarily, greatest economy in steam consumption may possibly not be obtained.

I claim:

1. The method of obtaining maximum draw "bar pull from a steam locomotive throughout acceleration to normal running speeds which consists in determining, regardless of economy in steam consumption, those cutoffs necessary for the development 'of desired maximum draw bar pull by antomatic means operable upon motion of the locomotive.

2.In a tion, a reverse lever and a reverse lever quadrant, the. combination of a speed indicator graduated to indicate the speed of r and corresponding graduations on the quadrant.

3. The combination with a locomotive having a valve motion and reversing mechanlsm control-1mg the same, of means under the control of engine speed for automatically. actuatmg the reversmg mechanism to alter the degree of cylinder cut-off to correspond with the speed of the locomotive.

e. The combination in a locomotive having avalve motion and a reverse means for operating the same, of power operated means for shifting saidreverse means, and

means under the control of the speed of the engine for actuating said operating means.

5. In a locomotive and areverse lever for operating the same, a power cylinder for shifting the reverse lever and a regulator for controlling the ad mission of operating iiuid to said power cylinder coupled to a rotating portion of the locomotive.

6. The combination in. a locomotive having a valve motion and areversing mechanism for operating the same, of a power cylinder for, shifting said reversing mecha' nism, a regulator for controlling the ad mission,of operating fluid to said cylinder, and driving mechanism for said regulator coupled to an axle of the locomotive.

7. The combination in a locomotive having a valve motion and a reverse means operating the same, of power means for shiftin said reverse means, means for limiting the movement of said reverse means, and means actuated by the speed of the locomotive for determining the operation o-t said limiting means.

8. The combination in a locomotive having a valve motion and a reverse levr operating the same, of power means L.

having a valve motion tor or shitting said reverse lever, a variable stop 'tion to normal running speeds, the improvelocomotive having a valve moits means for limiting the movement of the reverse lever, and a speed controlled regulator for determining the position of said stop means.

9. The combination in a locomotive having a valve motion and a reverse mechanism for operating the same, of a speed-controlled power means for shifting said reverse mechanism, and a speed controlled means for limiting the movement of the reverse mechanism.

10. The combination in a locomotive having a valve motion and a reverse mechanism for operating the same, of speed controlled means for limiting the movement of the reverse mechanism.

11. In a. locomotive having a valve motion, the combination therewith of means responsive'to the locomotive speed for automatically determining the point of cut-off for maximum draw-bar pull at any speed.

12. In a locomotive the combination of a reverse lever, a cut-off indicator mechanism adjacent the lever, and a medium for operating the indicator mechanism operable on motion of the locomotive.

13. In a locomotive the combination of a reverse lever, means for shifting the lever to alter the cut-off and an automatic medium for operating said means on motion of the locomotive.

14. In a locomotive having a valve motion, a reverse lever and a reverse lever quadrant, the combination of a cut-oil indicator, means operating the same on motion of the locomotive, said quadrant having corresponding graduations.

15. The herein described method of obtaining maximum draw' bar pull which consists in automatically adjusting the cut-oil proportionately to the speed of the locomotive, but with additional adjustment subject to manual control.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

BERT B. MILNER. 

